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How Agentic AI redefines customer experience in the digital age
EY.AI Unplugged Series explores why Agentic AI needs a new risk framework, highlighting vulnerabilities and key priorities: observability, testing and human oversight.
In the latest episode of EY.AI Unplugged Season 2: AI agents of impact, part of EY India Insights podcast series, Preeti Anand, Business Consulting Partner at EY India, discusses how Agentic AI is enhancing CX service delivery by automating routine tasks, allowing human agents to focus on more complex issues with empathy. She highlights that with the rise of Agentic AI; it autonomously creates value by understanding customer intent and collaborating with human agents.
The conversation also stresses India's important role in advancing Agentic AI, showcasing its potential to shift from a global delivery hub to an innovation leader in customer experience management. Preeti notes that AI-driven self-service tools can handle 40% to 50% of call types, improving productivity and customer satisfaction. Additionally, she advises organizations to start their AI journeys with solid data foundations and workflow mapping before investing in AI tools.
Key takeaways
AI can reshape customer experiences by enhancing service delivery and automating 40% to 50% of the tasks.
Real-time AI copilots can handle routine tasks, allowing human agents to manage complex problems, with persuasion and empathy.
India is poised to lead in AI-driven customer experience innovation, with a pool of AI talent base and companies developing AI solutions.
Organizations must prioritize data foundations and mapped workflows before investing in AI tools.
Leaders should prioritize customer expectations and long-term value rather than solely focusing on cost savings.
The real impact is on how agents work; instead of spending time on repetitive queries, they are now being assisted by real time AI copilots. It allows human agents to focus on what they do best, which is empathy, persuasion and complex problem solving, while AI enables them to handle issues with scale and speed.
Preeti Anand
Partner, Business Consulting, Customer Service Transformation, EY India
For your convenience, a full text transcript of this podcast is available on the link below:
Pallavi:
Hi and welcome to the EY.AI Unplugged Season 2: AI agents of impact, a special series by EY India Insights. In this episode of ‘Reimagining customer experience with AI,’ we explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping customer interactions, enhancing service efficiency and creating more meaningful human connections. From predictive insights to intelligent automation, AI is redefining what a great customer experience looks like in the digital era.
Our guest for today is Preeti Anand, Partner, Business Consulting, Customer Service Transformation, EY India. Preeti brings over two decades of experience in helping organizations transform their customer experience through technology, data and design-led innovation. She works with business leaders to reimagine service delivery models, integrate AI into customer journeys and drive measurable impact across industries.
Hi Preeti, a very warm welcome to you and thank you for joining our podcast.
Preeti Anand
Thank you so much, Pallavi. It is my pleasure to be on this podcast.
Pallavi
Thank you, Preeti. To begin with, every wave of technology, from automation to Gen AI, has reshaped customer experience. According to you, what makes Agentic AI the next big shift in this evolution?
Preeti Anand
If you look at the earlier waves of technology, they helped organizations optimize automation, which led to improved speed and efficiency. Gen AI has taken it a step forward to help with improved context as well as personalization. But Agentic AI, it goes beyond optimization to autonomous value creation. We are talking about AI agents that can understand intent, collaborate with humans and can be programmed to take actions. That is a huge step forward. It means AI can simultaneously drive cost efficiency, customer satisfaction and revenue growth, something that earlier generations of tech could really deliver together. This is not just about another CX efficiency play. It is really about redefining how customer engagement operates across the front, middle and the back office.
Pallavi
Thank you, Preeti. Elaborating on the Agentic AI, what makes it a game changer for customer service function?
Preeti Anand
That is a great question, Pallavi. AI in general and Agentic AI in particular, is on an exciting journey, equipping organizations to achieve prediction, personalization and prescriptive actions and schemes. Across industry sectors, we are seeing customer service evolve with AI as a ballpark. About 40% to 50% of call types have the potential for self-service chatbots or IVA (Intelligent Virtual Assistants), when significant context is needed to resolve the customer issues. There is potential for AI to assist the human agents, automating 20% to 30% of the work and doing things like, automating the after call work, summarization, recommending the next best action, improving the promise and reminder fulfillment and so on. Even in the back end, there is a shift from non-Gen AI chatbots to gen AI models for intent detection and Agentic AI for further actions.
Pallavi
Thank you, Preeti. That is a significant leap. What are some practical use cases where Agentic AI is already showing this transformation?
Preeti Anand
We are seeing two types of value play out. The first one is mass automation where AI handles routine tasks like call summarization or after call work automation. But the second one is a far more powerful segment, which is the high leverage autonomy, where AI agents can reason, enable decisions and recommend actions across touchpoints. Just imagine a service scenario where an AI agent can detect a service lapse, prioritize based on customer value, trigger internal workflows and recommend a personalized retention offer.
That is not just a response automation, but it is an end-to-end orchestration of the workflow. Imagine the impact where it shows up in faster resolution times, higher conversion rates and better customer retention. The ROI comes from the compounding gains across efficiency, satisfaction and the lifetime value created.
Pallavi
Thank you, Preeti. So, AI is not just replacing the human connect but it is scaling itself also.
Preeti Anand
Exactly. It is more about augmentation than replacement. We are seeing a lot of standard call types that are becoming self-serviceable, thanks to AI and intelligent virtual assistants. The real impact is on how agents work - instead of spending time on repetitive queries, they are now being assisted by real- time AI copilots. It allows human agents to focus on what they do best, which is empathy, persuasion and complex problem solving, while AI enables them to handle issues with scale and speed. Take healthcare for instance, an AI assistant in a hospital setting today can understand multiple languages, can detect the urgency, can escalate appropriately and provide updates continuously to anxious patients or their families. It is not just about automating processes, it is about preserving empathy while doing so at scale. These systems learn from feedback, they keep getting better with every interaction, something that earlier technologies could not do as well. While AI can improve customer service, the technology itself will not create trust and that is where human connections matter. The contact center of the future is not about replacing human connect, it is about elevating it with AI assistants, bringing together the best of both worlds.
Pallavi
India has been a powerhouse in customer experience delivery for decades. What role do you see India playing in shaping the next phase, especially with Agentic AI?
Preeti Anand
For decades India has been the backbone of global CX delivery, combining operational excellence with cost efficiency. With Agentic AI, India is poised to move from being a delivery hub to becoming an innovation epicenter. You may ask how and why? We have an installed talent base of nearly 600,000 AI native CX professionals, that is roughly about 16% of the global pool. India is also home to 500 plus AI led CX platform companies and leading digital business services. We have already seen several global companies set up their Agentic AI labs in India and co-create industry specific solutions for BFSI, healthcare and retail. These labs are not just building tools, they are shaping governance frameworks, defining ethical standards and creating scalable architectures to power global deployments for customer service transformation.
My strong belief is that India's role in the next phase of customer service will be nothing short but transformative, will be powered by scale, talent and technology leadership in India. And that is where the future is heading; from being a process excellence to a customer excellence one.
Pallavi
Thank you, Preeti. If one is a Chief Customer Officer today, looking to start their Agentic AI journey, where can they begin?
Preeti Anand
It is a great question and I would say that start with the foundation, not with the tools. Before investing in AI agents, you need to ensure that your data is harmonized, your workflows are well mapped and your experience goals are measurable. From there, identify high impact entry points; functions where AI can deliver quick wins but also scale sustainably. Think about after-call automation, real time agent assistance, or dynamic personalization use cases.
Pallavi
Thank you, Preeti. Lastly about the return of investments, many leaders still see AI adoption through a cost lens, so how can Agentic AI deliver a sustained value beyond cost savings?
Preeti Anand
That is a very important point. The first wave of adoption often stopped at measuring cost efficiency, which was in terms of faster response time or lower handling costs, but true ROI and customer experience goes beyond that. It is about brand loyalty, customer lifetime value and reputation. We often see companies reach a plateau after initial gains, which we call as the ‘zone of partial value realization’. To move beyond that, you need a holistic approach which combines human expertise with AI driven automation. When your investments are aligned with customer expectations and long-term growth rather than short-term savings, that is when AI can truly become a strategic growth lever for your organization.
Pallavi
Thank you, Preeti. That brings us to the end of this conversation. Thank you so much for joining and sharing such insightful perspectives on reimagining customer experience with AI.
Preeti Anand
Thank you, Pallavi, it was a pleasure to be on the podcast.
Pallavi
Thank you. The key takeaway is, blending human empathy with intelligent automation highlights how organization can move from efficiency to experience led transformation. To all our listeners, we hope this episode of EY. AI Unplugged Season 2: AI agents of impact, has inspired new ideas for how AI can elevate customer experience and create long term value.
Do not forget to subscribe, share your feedback and join us next time as we continue exploring how AI agents are driving business transformation and impact across sectors. Until next time, this is Pallavi signing off.
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